Looking for a non-spicy enchilada sauce? This easy homemade enchilada sauce recipe won’t take you long to make, it full of amazing flavor, plus it’s very mild, so it’s great for those who prefer a less spicy enchilada sauce.
Thank you to Teflon® brand non-stick coating for sponsoring this post. This post contains compensated affiliate linking which support the work on this blog.
I used to always make our enchiladas with canned enchilada sauce. I still use canned enchilada sauce, but several years ago, I started making my own homemade enchilada sauce. That was a game changer for me. The sauce is SO good and it’s easy. Ok, maybe not as easy as opening a can, but it’s really not hard. Seriously.
This particular homemade enchilada sauce recipe got its start with our family several years ago, at Christmas time. For our family, enchilada sauce plays an important part of our holiday celebration.
Christmas Eve in our house means a big Mexican feast. It was a tradition that my mother started and eventually David and I adopted it for our family too. Having this type of Christmas Eve dinner is actually a tradition in many Mexican-American homes and while my husband didn’t grow up with this tradition himself, I’ve always been fascinated with the whole ritual of family gathering together to cook tamales and other items for the dinner.
While I like the tamales and the tacos, my favorite part of the whole Christmas Eve dinner is actually the cheese enchiladas that I make. They aren’t fancy — just shredded colby-jack cheese rolled up in corn tortillas. But the part that makes them truly irresistible is this enchilada sauce.
Today, I use this enchilada sauce off and on all throughout the year – from Christmas Eve to Cinco de Mayo and just regular dinners. It’s a non-spicy enchilada sauce, which makes it great for times when you’re serving those who don’t like spicy foods, or can’t tolerate them.
Sure, I still buy canned enchilada sauce for some of my recipes, but this recipe is a favorite in my house and I make it several times during the year.
Ingredients Needed for Homemade Non-Spicy Enchilada Sauce:
- Ground Cumin (4 Teaspoons)
- Crushed Mexican Oregano (2 Tablespoons)
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (1/2 – 1 Tablespoon)
- All-Purpose Flour (1/2 Cup)
- Olive Oil (1/4 Cup)
- Tomato Paste (1 6oz Can)
- Chicken or Vegetable Broth (32oz)
- Water (1/2 Cup)
- Lime Juice (1 Tablespoon)
- Salt (1/2 Teaspoon)
Cooking Equipment Needed for Homemade Non-Spicy Enchilada Sauce:
For this batch, I made it in Farberware Cookware, with Teflon® brand non-stick coating. I was happy with how evenly my sauce cooked and this particular set is dishwasher-safe, so clean up was easy too.
Non-Spicy Enchilada Sauce Recipe Notes:
–As noted above, this is a non-spicy enchilada sauce. You’ll notice that it does include dried red chile flakes as an optional ingredient. You can leave this out or adjust to your preference.
–The complete recipe which will make approximately 32 ounces worth of enchilada sauce. I find this to be plenty for a large casserole pan of enchiladas, but if you have a smaller family, you might only need half.
–This sauce can be made in advance and keeps well in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. I divide up the batch between two 16 ounce glass jars before placing in the refrigerator.
–I’ve tweaked this recipe over the past few years, but it was originally adapted from a Martha Stewart enchilada sauce recipe
Easy Homemade Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Here’s the full recipe, ready for you to print. Not ready to make this recipe yet? Be sure to save it to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily next time.
Easy Homemade Enchilada Sauce Recipe
Description
Skip the canned enchilada sauce — this easy homemade enchilada sauce recipe won’t take you long to make and it’s full of amazing flavor!
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons crushed Mexican oregano
- 1/2 – 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup purpose flour
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)
- 32 ounces chicken or vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup water (more or less)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine cumin, oregano and red pepper flakes. Mix flour into seasonings.
- In in a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Whisk the flour/seasoning mixture into the hot olive oil. Continue cooking the mixture, whisking constantly for about 1-2 minutes. Slowly add the broth to the mixture, whisking to combine both the cooked flour mixture and the both. Whisk in the tomato paste and continue stirring and whisking until the tomato paste is completely blended into the liquid.
- Continue cooking and stirring frequently. Mixture will thicken, so if necessary, you can add water to thin it out. I usually use about 1/2 cup of water. Add lime juice and salt. Use as desired in your favorite enchilada recipe.
- Category: Sauces
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Mexican
Love enchiladas? Check out these posts!
15+ Ways to Use Enchilada Sauce
5 Homemade Enchilada Sauce Recipes
Quick and Healthy Chicken Enchiladas
Erika says
My family loves this recipe. The only thing I changed is to exclude red pepper flakes, because my kids can’t handle spicy foods. This recipe has amazing flavor! I would give it 10 stars if I could.
Carrie says
This sauce is so good!! I have tried various canned and homemade enchilada sauce recipes. All of them had a bite to them that kept me from using them again. I about gave up trying to make enchiladas at home until I discovered this recipe! It is tasty and doesn’t have that bite that comes from using chili powder. I made enchiladas tonight and we are happy to eat the leftovers for once. The recipe is super easy and I’m adding it to the recipe file. We will definitely make this again!!!
Catherine says
Delicious! So good to be able to adjust the spiciness according to taste. I can’t eat spicy food so I only added 1/8 teaspoon chili powder. My family loved the enchilada sauce!
Katherines Corner says
I can almost taste it! Yummm. Thank you for sharing at Katherines Corner TFT. You were featured and pinned xo
Miz Helen says
Congratulations!
Your recipe is featured on The Top Ten for Full Plate Thursday! Your post will be pinned to the Full Plate Thursday Features Board and sure hope you enjoy your new Red Plate.
Miz Helen
janice says
I printed that out. I must try it thank you. I love enchilada sause and it will be great to make my own
Janice
Sara @ finditfixitorbuildit.com says
I’m so excited about this recipe! I have tried so many different red enchiladas sauces from cans that do not taste good AT ALL. Can’t wait to try this homemade recipe. Pinned and tweeted so I’ll be able to find it later. Thanks for linking up at the Home Matters Link Party! We hope to see you again next week:) #HomeMattersParty
Leanna says
This looks great! Its very hard to find premade enchilada sauce in Canada and this home recipe looks simple and easy to make. Pinning and thanks for the recipe.
Shirley Wood says
Perfect for Taco Tuesday or Cinco de Mayo this week! This post is a Feature for the new Merry Monday party!
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome says
Sorry it took so long to visit – I’ve been off on vacation! Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner link up!
shelley says
This looks delicious. Thanks for sharing at Over the Moon.
Linda says
Looks wonderful. any homemade sauce is far better than canned. Thanks for sharing at DI&DI.
Melissa says
Oh my gosh, that looks so good. The cheese enchiladas you described sound just perfect and what I must have for dinner tomorrow night! Thanks for sharing your recipe at the Family Joy Blog Link Party this week!
Gentle Joy Homemaker says
This sounds great! I wouldn’t have to halve the recipe… I would have to increase it… We usually make 2 big pans 11″ x 15″ and also a 9″ x 13″ of enchilada casserole for my big family. 🙂 I have made such a sauce once and it was wonderful. Thank you for the reminder to do it again!
Jamie says
This sounds amazing! I always miss my Grama’s sauce, and now maybe I can make one that tastes close to hers. 🙂
Roseann Hampton says
I’ve been making my own enchilada sauce for years due to the fact that canned enchilada sauce usually has some sort of sugar in it. I haven’t been thrilled with the recipe I’ve been using so I’m pinning yours to try!
Ashley says
Hi! Thank you so much for linking up to last week’s Tasty Tuesday linky, we had a great turn out! I have pinned you recipe the the Tasty Tuesday Pinterest board. 🙂 I hope that you can join us again this week.
Frugal Hausfrau says
I love enchiladas and it’s always great to have a new one! Thanks for linking up with us on Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
Quinn Caudill says
Thanks for sharing with us at Throwback Thursday. Pinned and shared!
Chelsee says
This sounds yummy! I have wanted to make my own enchilada sauce for a while now. I am excited to try out your recipe in my family’s next Taco tuesday. Thanks for linking this post up for the Best of the Blogosphere Linky Party!
Heidi says
I’ve always used canned sauce but haven’t been thrilled with the taste. I’m so printing off your recipe and excited to try it! Thanks for sharing!
kim says
This looks delicious!
Linda Bradshaw says
We love to bake tons of desserts. Everyone does one to two a piece! Linda Bradshaw , teachinmomma123abc at yahoo dot com
Theresa @DearCreatives says
We love making lasagna for Christmas and enchiladas for New Years . Happy holidays Brandie! Thanks off the chance.
Laura J says
Oh one of my favorites is the Christmas Jello Poke cake we do every year, and the 10 layer jello!!!
GB says
My favorite holiday food tradition is making sweet potato pie.
Christina says
Pot roast is our Christmas dinners
Jennai says
Our tradition is to make tamales for all of our neighbors
Linda F. says
We like to bake cookies together and decorate them as a family.
Jaclyn Reynolds says
I love trying new recipes the weeks before the holidays. My children help me out and we learn along the way.
Nikki says
One of my favorite holiday traditions is my whole family opening their presents with pajamas on Christmas Eve.
David says
We always have sweet potato pie and homemade dressing. The cornbread stuffing my wife makes is the same one her mother made her entire life. It is really good. I am not sure if it is a family recipe or straight from the BH&G cookbook, but we all love it.
Elle P. says
We like to bake holiday desserts together as a family.
ET Pruitt says
We make chicken pozole and lots of cookies on Christmas eve.
Carolsue says
Every year, my kids get a kick out of making Reindeer Chow out of M&M’s and Chocolate and peanut butter coated crispy cereal and pretzels
Victoria Johnson says
A favorite holiday food tradition is making gingerbread cookies
Christy M says
Baked cocktail weenies wrapped in bacon and brown sugar. Crack weenies, we call them. 😉
neeha says
We make atleast 2-3 varieties of casserole and desserts.
karoline latchman says
We always start out Xmas meal with chicken soup, dumplings and noodles. I’m not sure why but it has to be done!
Nataly Carbonell says
I like to make rompope, which is like a hispanic version of eggnog 🙂
Deb Jackson says
WE make galuskis which is rice and bacon in cabbage leaves.